j  are  earnestly  asked  to  hand  this  after  reading  to  some  other 
person  who  will  also  give  it  careful  consideration 


HE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF-A.M£R(eM; 

LABOR  Ur  i; 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  IN  FANEUIL  HALL,  JANUARY  22,  1902 


ftlf  HON.  GEORGE  S.BOUTWELL 

UNDER  THE  AUSPICES  OF  THE 


BOSTON  CENTRAL  LABOR  UNION 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  ANTI-IMPERIALIST  LEAGUE 
44  KILBY  STREET,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


1902 


10 


! 

! 


The:tli@#eti$g  in  Faneuil  Hall,  January  22d,  was  the 
r5«ult\of#tlW  follg wing  correspondence  : 


“  Boston,  Jan.  8,  1902. 


\\  ‘Vk>fiAiS  txpvryiNOR  Bout  well  :  The  course  of  events 
’•since  th^SjivkTgh- American  war  has  raised  problems  which 
.j)tcftoupjcffy.  affect  the  interests  of  industrial  and  agricultu- 
r&Vlaftor.  The  extension  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States  over  remote  and  alien  peoples  has  a  very  practical 
bearing  upon  the  well-being  of  American  citizens,  and 
threatens  to  imperil  the  means  of  livelihood  of  the  great 
army  of  workers,  while  it  involves  a  departure  from  the 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  ab¬ 
negation  of  the  political  principle  that  governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

“The  importance  of  the  questions  at  stake  transcend 
party  limits.  The  Democratic  party  has  recorded  its 
opposition  to  the  colonial  polic}T,  but  it  has  also  been  stren¬ 
uously  resisted  by  many  distinguished  Republicans,  like 
the  late  ex-President  Harrison,  ex-Secretary  Sherman, 
Judge  Edmunds,  Senator  Hoar,  ex-Speaker  Reed,  and 
Representative  McCall. 

“  None  have  been  more  courageous  and  persistent  in 
this  opposition  than  yourself.  Words  of  counsel  from 
one  who  may  be  justly  called  the  first  citizen  of  the  Com¬ 
monwealth,  and  whose  services  as  governor,  United  States 
senator,  and  secretary  of  the  treasury,  are  held  in  hon¬ 
ored  remembrance,  would  be  gratefully  received  by  all 
men,  and  especially  by  the  labor  world,  in  the  present 
crisis,  and  the  Boston  Central  Labor  Union  respectfully 
invites  you  to  deliver  an  address  upon  its  issues  in  Fan¬ 
euil  Hall  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

“  Trusting  for  the  favor  of  an  early  reply,  I  am  respect¬ 
fully  yours, 

“  GEORGE  G.  CUTTING, 
u  Chairman  Educational  Committee , 

“  Boston  Central  Labor  Union” 


“Boston,  Jan.  11,  1892. 

“  George  G.  Cutting,  Esq.  : 

“  My  Dear  Sir:  In  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your 
cordial  letter  of  the  8th  inst.,  I  am  able  to  say  that  it  will 
be  agreeable  and  convenient  to  me  to  address  the  Boston 


V* 

& 


*r> 


THE  ENSLAVEMENT  OF  AMERICAN  LABOR. 


In  the  closing  days  of  the  month  of  Augtfst  au  an^rfge- 
•>ment  was  made  by  the  officers  of  the  New  England* 
Anti-Imperialist  League,  in  connection -> ihe,  labor 
organizations  of  the  city  of  Boston,  for  a  mbetffig  tO'be’ 
held  in  Faneuil  Hall  the  evening  of  the  sixteenth  day  of 
September,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  interests  of 
the  laboring  and  producing  classes  of  the  country,  as  they 
may  be  affected  by  the  acquisition  of  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico, 
and  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  with  the  prospect  also  that 
the  industrial  and  commercial  relations  of  the  Island  of 
Cuba  might  be  controlled  by  the  United  States. 

The  criminal  tragedy  of  the  sixth  of  September  led  to 
the  postponement  of  that  meeting  without  reference  to 
time.  The  meeting  now  held  is  for  the  purpose  of  con¬ 
sidering  the  relations  of  the  United  States  in  an  industrial 
point  of  view  to  the  islands  mentioned.  The  tragical 
death  of  President  McKinley  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin 
has  divested  the  occasion  and  the  discussion  of  all  person¬ 
ality.  It  is  a  great  blot  upon  American  character,  if  it  be 
not  the  most  serious  chapter  in  the  history  of  this  conti¬ 
nent,  that  in  the  brief  period  of  less  than  forty  years  three 
Presidents  of  the  United  States  have  fallen  by  the  hands 
of  assassins.  It  is  not  probable  that  a  parallel  can  be 
found  either  in  the  history  of  Rome,  or  of  Russia,  or  of 
any  other  country  of  the  historical  period.  President 
McKinley  has  now  become  an  historical  personage  and  he 
takes  his  place  for  the  purposes  of  discussion  and  of 
history  with  the  other  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  and 
his  administration  and  career  are  henceforth  to  be  treated 
without  acrimony,  without  personality,  and  with  reference 
solely  to  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  administration  of 
which  he  was  the  head  and  of  the  policy  for  which  he  has 
become  responsible.  Of  the  three  great  crimes  referred 
to,  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley,  in  a  public 
point  of  view  and  with  reference  to  the  future  of  mankind, 
is  the  most  serious  and  the  most  to  be  lamented.  The 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln  and  the  assassination 
of  President  Garfield  were  due  to  local  divisions  and  con¬ 
troversies  and  to  circumstances  that  were  free  from  any 
previous  history  and  aside  from  any  public  policy  that 
might  tend  to  other  assassinations  in  the  future.  In  these 


r 


Z-G  1 3  "5 


6 


particulars  they  differ  from  the  assassination  of  President 
McKinleys 

It  is*  $aid  of  his  assassin  that  he  traced  his  ancestry  to  ^ 

/Poland,  and  that  the  assassination  was  due  to  the  spirit  of  (** 

what  known, as,  anarchy.  If  such  are  the  facts,  we  may 
.find'  a,  cau^e  fdr  his  crime  in  the  history  of  Poland.  In 
'•the  kdtly  part  of;,the  last  third  of  the  eighteenth  century, 

Russia,  Austfia;  and  Prussia  combined  for  the  subjugation 
'of  *fV>Iaild,  and  before  the  end  of  the  century  they  had 
succeeded  in  appropriating  the  territory  of  that  kingdom 
to  their  several  jurisdictions.  As  the  apparent  result  of 
that  usurpation  of  power  over  a  weaker  people,  large 
numbers  of  Poles  became  exiles  to  other  continents  or 
scattered  over  Europe,  they  became  the  promoters  of 
revolution  and  the  disseminators  of  the  idea  that  all  gov¬ 
ernments  are  usurpations  and  tyrannies,  and  that  they 
ought  not  longer  to  exist.  How  far  the  assassination  of 
President  McKinley  may  be  due  to  the  revolutionary  and 
anarchical  spirit  accepted  by  the  Poles  as  the  consequence 
of  the  outrage  perpetrated  upon  their  country,  cannot  be 
said.  When  we  consider  the  ancestry  of  the  assassin  and 
the  circumstances  that  he  could  have  had  no  reason  for 
the  commission  of  the  crime  in  his  association  with  the 
politics  of  the  United  States  or  any  reason  in  the  policy,  per¬ 
sonal  character,  or  public  conduct  of  President  McKinley, 
we  may  infer  that  his  crime  was  due  to  the  passion  for 
revenge  engendered  in  the  Polish  heart  and  mind  and 
transmitted  through  four  generations.  The  spirit  of  an¬ 
archy,  born  of  the  injustice  measured  out  to  Poland,  is  a 
passion  and  not  a  public  policy  which  looks  to  improve¬ 
ment  in  social  and  public  life.  If  we  may  not  trace  the 
assassination  of  President  McKinley  to  the  dismember¬ 
ment  of  Poland,  the  recognized  evils  and  crimes  that  have 
come  from  that  act  of  injustice  are  a  warning  to  England 
and  America  in  presence  of  the  wars  in  South  Africa  and 
in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

The  crime  of  President  McKinley’s  assassin  is  to  be 
considered  as  an  assault  upon  the  right  of  governments 
to  exist.  The  head  of  a  government  is,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  the  enemy  of  that  doctrine.  President  McKinley 
was  the  duly  constituted  head  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  deriving  his  authority  through  well  ascer¬ 
tained  and  recognized  processes  and,  standing  in  that 
relation,  he  was  the  representative  of  the  idea  for  which 
the  Anti-Imperialists  are  contending :  I  The  right  of  all 
people  in  communities  to  institute  for  themselves  such 


7 


forms  of  government  as  they  think  best  adapted  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  ends  they  may  have  in  view.|  It 
was  therefore  an  assault  upon  the  right  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves,  and  in  that  view  of  the  case  there 
can  be  none  more  disposed  than  are  the  men  known  as 
Anti-Imperialists  to  condemn  the  crime  as  a  crime  against 
the  person  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  free  country,  and 
a  crime  in  its  assault  upon  the  right  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves  in  their  own  way  and  through  such 
rulers  as  they  may  choose  to  place  in  power. 

*  Turning  from  the  public  aspect  of  the  assassination  of 

President  McKinley,  there  can  be  no  hesitation  in  the 
admission  of  the  fact  that  on  the  humane  and  religious 
side  of  his  character  he  has  not  been  over-estimated  in 
the  claims  that  his  friends  have  made  for  him.  In  the 
long  centuries  there  has  not  been  a  more  humane  declara¬ 
tion  than  his  demand  for  the  protection  of  his  assassin 
against  the  possible  assaults  of  an  enraged  populace,  when 
the  fatal  wound  was  fresh  upon  him.  And  from  the 
Christian  side  of  his  character  his  death  illustrates  the 
sincerity  of  the  belief  that  he  professed  in  his  life.  It  is 
not  for  me  to  attempt  to  reconcile  the  humane  and  relig¬ 
ious  characteristics  of  President  McKinley  with  the  policy 
of  war  and  of  conquest  which  must  ever  be  identified  with 
the  history  of  his  administration. 

We  shall  have  met  all  the  demands  of  the  situation 
occupied  by  Anti-Imperialists  when  we  consider  the  wis¬ 
dom  and  justice  of  President  McKinley’s  policy  touching 
the  insular  possessions  in  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans, 
which,  by  him,  were  brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Republic. 

To-night  I  am  to  speak  of  the  enslavement  of  American 
labor.  The  bearer  of  disagreeable  news  is  an  unwel¬ 
come  messenger  and  the  public  speaker  who  cannot  in¬ 
spire  the  hopes  nor  encourage  the  ambition  of  his  hearers 
must  fail  to  command  their  approval. 

Thus  1  forecast  your  opinion  of  the  address  that  I  am 
now  to  deliver. 

In  the  many  speeches  and  papers  that  I  have  prepared 
in  aid  of  the  effort  that  the  Anti-Imperialists  are  making 
.  to  arrest  the  subversion  of  the  American  Republic  and 
the  creation  of  an  Empire  on  its  ruins,  in  two  instances 
only  have  I  appealed  to  the  laboring  and  producing  classes 
as  bodies  of  men  who  are  vitally  interested  in  the  success 
of  the  cause  which  tiie  Anti-Imperialist  Leagues  are  organ¬ 
ized  to  promote  :l  That  cause  includes  the  protection  of 


8 


American  labor  in  all  its  forms  against  a  competition 
which  is  unnatural  in  its  character  and  which  in  two 
decades  may  force  the  American  laborer  into  free  com¬ 
petition  with  the  most  degraded  laboring  populations  of 
the  tropical  Pacific  Islands. 

On  other  occasions  1  have  attempted  to  set  forth  the 
duty  resting  upon  the  country,  a  duty  arising  from  moral 
and  political  considerations,  to  condemn  the  policy  of 
wars  and  conquests  that  has  been  pursued  for  three  years 
in  defiance  of  popular  sovereignty,  and  in  violation  of  the 
three  amendments  to  the  Constitution  which  were  de¬ 
signed  as  a  guarantee  of  freedom  and  of  equality  of 
rights  to  every  person  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States. 

The  leading  purpose  of  this  address  is  to  be  found  in 
the  appeal  which  I  am  to  make  to  the  laboring  and  pro¬ 
ducing  classes  to  unite  in  an  effort  to  save  themselves 
from  the  social,  moral,  and  political  degradation  that  is  to 
follow  a  policj'  of  war  and  conquests. 

For  this  occasion  I  pass  over  the  grave  charges  that 
rest  upon  the  last  administration  without  enlargement  or 
comment,  but  those  charges  are  not  to  be  forgotten  : 
The  subversion  of  the  protocol  of  August,  1898,  and  the 
unjustifiable  seizure  of  the  Philippine  Islands  ;  the  usurpa¬ 
tion,  of  power  in  the  proclamation  of  Dec.  21,  1898,  in 
which  we  assumed  sovereignty  over  ten  million  people 
who  at  that  date  were  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States ;  the  refusal  to  suspend  hostilities  in  the 
Philippines,  by  which  act  the  country  became  responsible 
for  the  sacrifice  of  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
human  lives  ;  the  Chinese  war  of  aggression  without  the 
authority  of  Congress ;  the  purchased  friendship  of  a 
tribal  slave-holding  chief  whom  we  then  claimed  as  our 
subject ;  the  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States  in  the  recognition  of  chattel  slavery 
and  polygamy  in  the  Sulu  Isles  ;  the  denial  of  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury  to  ten  million  persons  who  are  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States;  the  abolition  of  the 
right  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  by 
the  intervention  of  the  army  ;  the  transportation  of  per¬ 
sons  to  remote  and  unfrequented  islands  without  trial ; 
the  creation  of  courts  in  the  Philippine  Islands  whose 
judges  are  not  required  to  recognize  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  as  binding  upon  them  ;  and,  finally, 
as  a  measure  of  peace,  we  have  adopted  the  reconcentrado 
policy  of  Spain  in  Cuba,  which  we  denounced  as  a  crime 


> 


9 


against  humanity,  and  we  are  now  assembling  the  aged 
men,  the  women,  the  children,  non-combatants  all,  in  for¬ 
tified  encampments,  where  death  multiplies  :jjfe  -victims 
many  times  in  excess  of  the  casualties  or  open  vab;’  *>li 
of  these  acts  being  the  necessary  in&i^gtite  pf  a  policy  “of 
Empire  and  the  subversion  of  the  Republic^  V  :/  ’ 

As  preliminary  to  the  main  discussion  on’whibh  I  am 
entering,  I  invite  your  attention  to  New  England;  to  some¬ 
thing  of  its  history,  to  a  view  of  its  resources^  and’.fitially 
to  the  nature  and  vigor  of  the  competition  in  industrial 
pursuits  which  is  inevitable  in  the  near  future. 

Its  deposits  of  silver,  iron,  and  coal  are  of  no  value. 
Its  resources  in  agriculture,  in  commerce,  interstate  and 
foreign,  in  the  fisheries,  in  wood,  timber,  granite,  and 
marble,  are  equal  only  to  the  support  of  a  third  part  of 
the  present  population.  In  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  great  changes  were  made  in  its  industries.  The 
breeding  of  horses  and  cattle  for  sale  was  abandoned. 
The  cultivation  of  hops,  corn,  and  wheat  was  transferred 
to  New  York  and  the  further  West.  The  building  of 
locomotives  with  all  the  heavier  products  of  iron  was 
given  up  under  the  superior  advantages  existing  in  Penn¬ 
sylvania  and  Ohio.  None  of  these  industries  can  ever  be 
regained.  In  the  same  period  of  time  the  tanning  indus¬ 
try,  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements,  of  house¬ 
hold  furnishings  of  wood,  passed  wholly  or  in  a  large 
degree  into  other  hands.  To  these  appreciable  losses  and 
as  of  signal  importance,  I  add  the  loss  of  a  considerable 
part  of  the  industry  in  shoes  and  leather  which  for  a  time 
was  almost  a  monopoly  in  New  England. 

For  these  losses  compensation  has  been  made  by  the 
manufacture  of  metal  products  of  light  weight  and  by  the 
immense  enlargement  of  textile  fabrics.  These  manufact¬ 
ures  are  now  in  peril,  and  for  their  loss  who  can  suggest 
an  adequate  compensation? 

With  the  overthrow  of  slavery  has  come  an  immense 
increase  of  old  industries  and  the  introduction  of  many 
new  industries  in  the  South.  The  South  has  millions  of 
unused  horse-power  in  its  mountain  streams,  it  has  sources 
of  national  wealth  in  its  deposits  of  iron,  coal,  and  oil, 
and  in  its  economy  of  labor  it  enjoys  a  never-ceasing  ad¬ 
vantage  in  the  mildness  of  its  climate. 

The  capacity  of  the  South  for  progress  in  industrial  pur¬ 
suits  may  be  realized  in  the  fact  that  the  production  of 
cotton  has  risen  from  four  million  bales  of  four  hundred 
pounds  each,  in  the  days  of  slavery,  to  more  than  eleven 


10 


million  bales  of  five  hundred  pounds  each  in  the  days  of 
freedom.  Ik  was  my  fortune  in  December,  1861,  in  a 
speech  chat  I\th§n  delivered  in  Tremont  Temple  and  in 
answer  rtp  *an  In  terruption  in  the  galleries,  to  predict  an 
increase  of  one-  hrmdred  per  cent,  in  the  crop  of  cotton 
af ter f^w  years,  af  freedom  in  the  South.  The  speech 
:was  printed  in  th§  u  Boston  Journal.” 

The  •industries  «of  New  England  are  now  disturbed  by 
.the  competition  of  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  the  Carolinas, 
and  the  manufacturers  of  New  England  are  erecting  mills 
in  those  States  whose  products  will  enter  the  markets  of 
the  world  in  competition  with  the  products  of  the  mills  in 
Fall  River,  Lowell,  Lawrence,  and  Manchester.  New 
England  cannot  avoid  a  period  of  active  competition  with 
the  South  in  the  manufacture  of  fabrics  on  which  the 
prosperity  of  New  England  chiefly  depends.  That  com¬ 
petition  will  be  serious  and  during  the  trial  period  the  in¬ 
dustries  of  New  England  will  be  depressed,  and  during 
that  period  new  perils  in  business  ought  not  to  be  ac¬ 
cepted  voluntarily. 

The  following  statement  of  facts  is  drawn  from  the  ex¬ 
perience  of  a  New  England  manufacturer  who  is  also  the 
manager  of  a  cotton  mill  in  Alabama. 

In  Alabama  coal  is  $1.50  per  ton.  The  same  coal  costs 
$4.50  per  ton  in  a  New  England  interior  city.  A  coarse 
cotton  fabric  costs  forty  cents  per  piece  for  weaving  in 
Massachusetts  and  only  twenty  cents  in  Alabama.  This 
is  an  exceptional  case,  but  there  is  a  difference  in  the  cost 
of  labor  which  runs  against  New  England  constantly.  As 
time  passes  the  cost  of  labor  may  increase  in  the  South, 
and  with  the  passing  of  time  the  wages  of  labor  will 
diminish  in  the  North  while  the  competition  is  going 
on. 

I  am  now  to  make  a  statement  of  a  fact  which  must  be 
accepted  as  a  truthful  statement.  It  was  the  policy  of 
President  McKinley  to  enlarge  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  in  the  tropics  and  to  maintain  that  jurisdic¬ 
tion  for  an  indefinite  period  of  time.  On  that  statement 
I  base  this  prediction :  Not  much  time  can  elapse 
before  a  policy  of  entire  freedom  of  trade  will  be  estab¬ 
lished  between  our  insular  possessions  and  the  States  of 
the  Union. 

An  example  has  been  set.  Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico  are 
recent  acquisitions,  and  entire  freedom  of  trade  has  been 
established  between  Porto  Rico  and  the  United  States  and 
to  the  benefit  of  the  islanders.  The  advantages  to  the 


J1 


sugar  and  tobacco  interests  of  the  United  States  have  not 
been  set  forth. 

The  policy  of  war  and  conquest  has  been  inaugurated 
and  carried  on,  as  is  claimed,  for  the  extension  of  the 
American  market.  The  extension  of  the  American  market 
through  war  means  freedom  in  trade  —  reciprocity  in 
trade.  The  Philippine  Islands  and  Cuba  cannot  take 
our  cotton  cloths  unless  we  purchase  their  products  of 
sugar,  fruits,  tobacco,  and  hemp.  The  extension  of  the 
American  markets  means  competition  in  the  production  of 
the  articles  which  pass  into  and  out  of  those  markets. 
The  value  of  the  markets  of  the  world  may  be  overesti¬ 
mated,  more  especially  those  markets  in  which  the  demand 
is  limited  to  cotton  cloths  and  intoxicating  liquors.  The 
consumption  of  cotton  fabrics  of  all  varieties  does  not  ex¬ 
ceed  two  dollars  for  each  inhabitant  of  the  globe.  The 
insular  possessions  on  which  we  have  laid  our  hands  may 
be  consumers  of  cotton  fabrics  to  the  amount  of  thirty 
million  dollars  a  year,  —  less  in  the  total  than  the  business 
of  a  single  railway  in  America.  The  trade  will  be  divided 
and  in  a  short  half  century  the  oriental  countries  will  share 
most  largely  in  it.  Japan  taught  us  a  lesson  at  the  Cen¬ 
tennial  Exposition  of  1876.  Her  imitations  of  the  hand 
work  of  America  and  Europe  were  equal  to  the  originals 
and  her  exhibits  of  bronze  and  lacquer  work  had  no  com¬ 
petition  from  the  Western  world.  America  aided  in  the 
work  of  opening  Japan  to  a  career  of  progress  and  active 
competition  with  the  nations  of  Europe  and  in  which  the 
fortunes  of  the  United  States  are  involved.  The  door 
that  we  are  opening  through  the  walls  of  China  will  open 
outward  and  not  inward.  Foreign  merchants,  residents 
of  China,  are  less  numerous  and  less  prosperous  than  the 
same  class  were  a  half  century  ago.  Henceforth  China 
will  produce  an  increasing  share  of  the  goods  it  has  been 
accustomed  to  purchase  from  other  countries  and  its  prod¬ 
ucts  for  export  will  increase  with  its  knowledge  of  the 
extent  and  value  of  the  markets  .abroad.  Woe  to  the 
laboring  and  producing  populations  of  a  country  that 
enters  into  a  free  competition  with  the  unnumbered  mill¬ 
ions  of  India  and  the  Chinese  Empire.  This  is  the  end 
to  which  this  country  is  now  invited. 

I  am  now  to  consider  the  beginnings  of  that  policy  as 
it  is  illustrated  in  our  doings  in  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico, 
Cuba,  and  the  Philippines.  The  first  two  are  Territories 
already  ;  they  are  under  the  Constitution  ;  they  are  on 
their  way  to  Statehood,  and  as  long  as  the  policy  of  Presi- 


12 


dent  McKinley  shall  be  maintained  they  have  secured 
freedom  of  trade  with  the  United  States.  Under  that 
policy  a  like  freedom  will  be  established  between  the 
United  States  and  Cuba  and  the  Philippines. 

If  we  can  assume  the  absolute  independence  of  Hawaii, 
Porto  Rico,  Cuba,  and  the  Philippines,  and  if  we  can  also 
assume  that  those  States,  each  and  all,  should  make  a 
proffer  of  immediate  and  absolute  freedom  in  trade,  can 
there  be  a  doubt  that  the  United  States  would  decline  to 
-accept  the  proffer?  Freedom  in  trade  ma}r  be  the 
policy  of  the  world  ultimately,  but  let  it  come  as  a  growth, 
a  development,  and  not  as  a  catastrophe  to  American 
labor  and  industries. 

And  yet  we  are  expending  hundreds  of  millions  and 
thousands  of  lives  to  secure  conditions  and  opportunities 
that  w^e  would  not  accept  as  free  gifts.  This  is  the  states¬ 
manship,  this  is  the  administrative  policy  by  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  Secretary  Long,  President  McKinley  has  been 
raised  to  an  equality  with  Washington  and  Lincoln  and 
far  in  advance  of  Jefferson,  the  Adamses,  Grant,  and  the 
rest  —  the  founders  of  the  Republic  and  the  saviors  of  the 
Republic. 

There  are  four  great  interests  of  labor  and  production 
that  are  to  be  touched  seriously  and  adversely  when  we 
accept  freedom  of  trade  between  the  United  States  and 
the  islands  named  :  The  sugar  interest,  the  tobacco  inter¬ 
est,  the  hemp  culture,  and  the  growing  of  tropical  fruits. 
Our  producers  of  these  articles  are  to  be  brought  into 
competition  with  producers  who  can  employ  laborers  who 
can  live  on  foods  that  are  less  expensive  than  the  meat 
and  breadstuff's  which  American  laborers  require  and 
which  they  are  accustomed  to  consume,  who  do  not  need 
fuel  nor  clothing  for  warmth,  and  whose  wages  are  less 
than  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  wages  which  are  now  paid  to 
American  laborers.  In  such  a  contest  the  result  cannot 
be  doubtful.  America  must  abandon  the  field,  or  the 
laborers  from  Louisiana  to  Minnesota,  from  Florida  to 
Connecticut,  must  accept  the  wages  that  may  be  paid  in 
Cebu  and  Luzon.  The  Sultan  of  the.  Sulu  Isles  would 
thus  find  his  slave  labor  upon  an  equality  with  the  free 
labor  of  America,  while  he  and  his  harem  would  be  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  pension  from  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States. 

The  tobacco  growers  of  Connecticut  have  been  assured 
by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  that  the  cultivation  of 
tobacco  for  cigar  wrappers  may  be  continued.  This  must 


13 


be  a  gratifying  assurance  to  Connecticut.  The  loss  of 
labor  and  the  returns  for  labor  will  be  followed  by  a  con¬ 
sequent  evil  in  the  reduced  prices  and  in  the  reduced 
value  of  all  the  lands  that  are  now  assigned  to  the  culture 
of  sugar,  tobacco,  hemp,  and  tropical  fruits. 

This  catastrophe  to  labor  and  to  land  will  extend  to 
labor  and  to  land  in  every  branch  of  industry,  and  to 
every  State  of  the  Union. 

Between  the  year  1880  and  the  year  1900  important 
manufacturing  industries  were  established  in  several 
States  of  the  South.  The  inducements  were  cheap  labor, 
cheap  materials,  and  mildness  of  climate.  These  consti¬ 
tute  the  strength  of  the  competition  which  New  England, 
New  York,  and  other  States  of  the  North  are  called  to 
meet.  In  mildness  of  climate  and  in  the  cost  of  labor, 
Luzon  and  Cebu  have  an  advantage  over  Alabama  more 
than  equal  to  the  advantage  which  Alabama  enjoys  in  a 
comparison  with  New  England. 

In  the  year  1801  the  city  of  Boston,  measured  in  time, 
was  as  far  from  New  Orleans  as  is  Manila  Bay  from  San 
Francisco  in  the  year  1901. 

The  natural  forces  which  now  favor  the  transfer  of 
manufacturing  industries  from  New  England  to  Alabama, 
Georgia,  and  the  Carolinas  will  transfer  the  manufacturing 
industries  not  of  New  England  only,  but  of  the  States  of 
the  South  as  well  to  the  tropical  islands  of  the  Pacific 
seas.  A  world  power  must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  power 
of  the  world,  and  in  an  industrial  contest  in  which  climate 
and  the  cost  of  labor  are  the  controlling  forces,  the  result 
cannot  be  doubtful. 

Does  any  one  of  those  who  appear  for  the  Administra¬ 
tion  rise  to  say  that  beet-root  sugar  can  be  produced  in 
America  in  competition  with  the  sugar  plantations  of 
Cuba  and  the  sugar  growing  districts  of  the  Philippine 
Islands  ?  Already  it  can  be  said  that  in  a  single  year 
160,000  tons  of  sugar  were  produced  in  the  Philippine 
Islands.  But  some  one  will  rise  to  say  that  these  predic¬ 
tions  of  evil  to  American  industries  are  not  merely  im¬ 
probable,  they  are  impossible.  I  answer,  You  must 
admit  two  facts :  first  you  must  admit  that  industries 
have  been  transferred  from  New  England  to  the  South, 
and  second,  you  must  admit  that  the  controlling  forces 
were  cheap  labor,  proximity  to  the  raw  materials,  coal, 
iron,  and  cotton  and  the  lesser  cost  of  the  same  ;  and, 
finally,  a  milder  climate  which  diminishes  the  demand 
for  clothing  and  for  artificial  heat  for  health  and  com- 


14 


fort.  Is  not  the  merchantable  value  of  labor  less  in 
Cuba,  Porto  Pico,  and  the  Philippines  than  it  is  in 
Georgia  and  Alabama?  And  is  not  the  climate  milder? 
And  are  there  not  millions  of  workers  in  the  islands  who 
are  accustomed  to  torrid  heats  ?  The  evils  that  I  indicate 
may  not  all  come  to  pass,  but  some  of  them  are  certain, 
many  of  them  are  probable,  and  none  of  them  are 
impossible. 

Among  the  evils  that  are  certain,  I  count  these  two: 
The  sugar  and  tobacco  industries  of  America  must  disap¬ 
pear  whenever  there  is  freedom  of  trade  between  the 
United  States  and  Cuba,  Porto  Pico,  and  the  Philippines. 

But  there  are  other  perils,  and  of  them  I  am  to  speak. 
In  the  month  of  July,  and  again  in  the  month  of  Novem¬ 
ber,  1901,  the  “  New  York  Tribune”  gave  voice  to  its 
apprehension  that  at  some  time  our  insular  possessions 
might  become  parts  of  the  United  States.  The  project  of 
such  a  union,  although  it  had  not  been  proposed  openly 
by  any  one  in  authority,  was  condemned,  was  denounced 
without  reserve.  The  apprehension  was  born  of  the  be¬ 
lief  that  the  policy  of  the  Administration  was  tending  to 
that  result.  That  policy  has  received  the  support  of  the 
u  New  York  Tribune.”  Thus  we  have  before  us  a  second 
signal  instance  of  support  given  to  the  Administration  by 
Pepublicans  who  condemned  its  policy,  or  who  fear  to 
meet  the  logical  and  natural  results  of  that  policy.  In 
the  opinion  of  the  u  Tribune  ”  the  incorporation  of  the 
insular  possessions  into  the  Union  is  not  an  impossibility, 
and  I  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  that  peril,  in  case 
the  Administration  shall  continue  to  command  the  sup¬ 
port  of  the  country.  The  example  of  Porto  Rico  has 
become  a  teacher.  Without  observation  that  island  has 
been  made  a  member  of  the  American  Union  in  so  far 
that  entire  freedom  of  trade  has  been  established  between 
its  ports  and  the  ports  of  the  United  States. 

But  more  important  than  all  things  else  is  the  fact  that 
in  a  day  it  may  be  made  a  State  in  the  Union,  with  six  or 
seven  electoral  votes  in  a  pending  Presidential  election. 
In  a  close  contest,  is  the  Democratic  party  so  pure  that  it 
will  decline  the  opportunity  to  continue  in  power?  Or, 
may  I  ask,  is  the  Republican  party  so  pure  that  in  an 
exigency  it  will  neglect  its  only  chance  of  avoiding  de¬ 
feat?  The  history  of  the  admission  of  Texas  contains  an 
instructive  lesson.  By  a  brief  act  of  Congress  Texas 
was  made  a  State  in  the  Union  with  an  option,  which, 
even  now,  may  be  enjoyed,  of  creating  four  additional 


15 


States.  This  was  done  in  the  hope  that  the  domination  of 
the  slave  power  might  be  continued  indefinitely.  Already 
there  are  American  interests  in  Porto  Rico  that  would  be 
promoted  by  its  appearance  as  a  State  in  the  American 
Union.  Alread}^  there  are  plans  and  schemes  for  the 
gratification  of  political  ambitions.  Already  political 
plots  have  been  hatched  ;  already  there  are  candidates  for 
seats  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
from  the  State  of  Porto  Rico. 

For  a  moment  there  may  be  a  revival  of  faith  in  the 
doctrines  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  early  fathers,  and  the 
men  who  are  carrying  on  a  war  for  the  subjugation  of  the 
Filipinos  will  arouse  the  country  as  they  demand  the  ad¬ 
mission  of  Porto  Rico  by  the  cry :  When  before  have  we 
kept  a  million  people  in  a  territorial  condition  ?  If  the 
vote  of  Porto  Rico  should  appear  to  be  needed  in  the  con¬ 
test  for  the  election  of  a  President  in  1904,  there  may  be 
an  effusive  exhibition  of  patriotism  and  justice  demanding 
the  admission  of  Porto  Rico  into  the  Union  of  States. 
Its  opponents  would  become  the  enemies  of  national  de¬ 
velopment.  Omitting  for  a  moment  all  further  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  steps  by  which  the  end  may  be  reached,  is 
there  any  doubt  that  a  way  will  be  found,  and  without 
much  delay,  for  the  admission  of  Porto  Rico  into  the 
Union,  unless  the  policy  of  the  Administration  shall  be 
reversed  ? 

If  the  admission  of  Porto  Rico  would  be  a  calamity 
then  the  “  New  York  Tribune”  has  cause  for  alarm. 

If  Porto  Rico  has  become  a  menace  to  the  safety  or  to 
the  prosperity  of  the  Republic,  the  responsibility  is  upon 
the  Republican  party  and  especially  upon  those  who  have 
effectively  supported  that  party  while  denying  the  wisdom 
of  its  policy. 

The  Administration  may  have  been  disturbed  by  the  read¬ 
ings  of  the  several  opinions  given  by  the  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  Those  opinions  offer  only  an  alternative 
in  the  Philippines  :  territorial  governments  or  a  continu¬ 
ance  of  miltary  rule  indefinitely. 

As  territorial  governments  there  will  be  freedom  in 
trade  ;  as  military  despotisms  Congress  will  fix  the  terms 
on  which  goods  may  be  imported  into  the  islands  and  the 
terms  on  which  their  products  may  be  sent  out.  Previous 
to  the  24th  day  of  May,  it  was  announced  that  on  the  1st 
day  of  July  civil  governments  would  beset  up  in  the  Phil¬ 
ippines.  The  day  named  was  abandoned,  and  on  the  4th 
day  of  July  a  system  of  civil  goverment  under  military 


16 


rule  was  proclaimed  in  defiance  of  the  Declaration  of  In¬ 
dependence  in  which  these  words  are  written  : 

“We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self  evident,  that  all  men 
are  created  equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  unalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  Life, 
Liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That  to  secure 
these  rights  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  de¬ 
riving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov¬ 
erned.” 

If  Great  Britain  had  secured  the  possession  of  the  Phil¬ 
ippine  Islands,  and  if  Edward  VII.  had  chosen  the  4th 
day  of  July  as  the  day  for  the  announcement  of  a  gov¬ 
ernment  over  the  people,  against  the  people,  and  with¬ 
out  the  consent  of  the  people,  we  should  have  treated  the 
act  as  an  insult  to  America  and  as  a  defilement  of  our 
history. 

And  what  shall  we  say,  and  what  will  history  say,  of  a 
President  by  whom  such  a  proclamation  was  made  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  birthday  of  American  independence,  a 
President  twice  called  to  administer  a  government  born  of 
the  great  principle  “  that  all  just  governments  derive  their 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,”  he  then  well 
knowing  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
had  never  consented  to  the  government  he  was  then  at¬ 
tempting  to  set  up  over  them? 

In  presence  of  the  alternative  which  the  opinions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  offer  to  the  country,  the  Administration 
may  be  forced  to  accept  the  territorial  system  of  govern¬ 
ment  for  the  Philippines.  A  military  system,  as  a  per¬ 
manency,  would  seem  to  be  an  impossibility. 

The  islands  extend  over  fifteen  or  sixteen  degrees  of 
latitude,  the  distance  from  Boston,  Mass.,  to  St.  Augus¬ 
tine,  Fla.  Mindanao  is  six  hundred  miles  from  Luzon. 
These  facts  of  space  will  justify  and  require  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  separate  governments,  and  thus  the  country 
may  note  the  beginnings  of  several  States  destined  for 
places  in  the  American  Union,  —  some  of  them  Catholic 
States,  some  of  them  Mohammedan  States,  thus  dividing 
the  country  upon  questions  of  religion.  Already  there 
are  visions  of  wealth  to  be  drawn  from  the  Philippines  re¬ 
gardless  of  the  prior  rights  of  the  ten  million  natives  to 
the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their  heritage.  Already 
personal  political  ambitions  have  been  aroused  by  the  ex¬ 
periences  of  Worcester,  Schurman,  Taft,  and  others,  and 
by  the  prospect  of  two,  four,  six,  ten  seats  in  the  Senate 
and  a  tenth  part  of  all  the  seats  in  the  House  of  Repre- 


17 


sentatives.  If  to  these  forces  we  are  to  add  the  influence 
of  President  Roosevelt  and  the  support  of  the  Republican 
party,  then  more  than  the  warning  voice  of  the  “  New  York 
^  Tribune  ”  will  be  required  when  the  contest  is  fairly  on. 

Secretary  Long  in  his  speech  at  Hingham  sets  forth  a 
policy  with  commendable  frankness.  We  are  to  furnish 
the  Filipinos  with  good  roads,  good  schools,  better 
homes,  better  business,  then,  in  the  course  of  twenty  years, 
or  at  the  end  of  twenty  years, 

“  The  question,”  says  Governor  Long,  “  shall  be  left 
with  them  whether  they  prefer  to  remain  with  us  and 
enjoy  our  civilization,  or  set  up  for  themselves.  What 
the  result  shall  be,”  says  Governor  Long,  “  I  can  have  no 
question.”  Thus  Governor  Long  commits  himself  to  the 
policy  of  admitting  the  Philippine  Islands  into  the  Union 
within  the  next  twenty  years.  Did  he  speak  for  the  Admin¬ 
istration  and  does  he  forecast  the  purpose  of  the  Repub¬ 
lican  party?  President  McKinley  denounced  those  who 
advocated  a  surrender  of  any  part  of  the  Spanish  posses¬ 
sions.  He  characterized  that  policy  as  a  “  scuttle  policy.” 

Previous  to  May  24  it  seemed  possible  for  the  United 
States  to  follow  England  in  its  colonial  policy,  and  such, 
in  appearance,  was  the  purpose  of  the  President. 

Under  the  opinions  given  by  the  several  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  the  English  Colonial  system  is  not  possible 
in  America.  The  administration  is  called  to  face  the  al¬ 
ternative  :  Territorial  governments,  or  a  continuous  mili¬ 
tary  despotism  such  as  was  set  up  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
July  4,  1901.  Shall  that  form  of  despotism  be  accepted 
by  Republican  America? 

In  1898  we  guaranteed  the  complete  independence  of 
Cuba,  and  for  that  independence  we  pledged  the  name  of 
the  Republic.  In  1900  we  demanded  concessions  from 
Cuba  as  conditions  precedent  to  the  formation  of  any  gov¬ 
ernment  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  island.  Thus  was 
Cuba  made  a  vassal  State.  The  proceeding  on  our  part 
was  glossed  by  the  pretext  that  the  only  way  to  independ¬ 
ence  was  through  a  system  of  subserviency,  and  thus  has 
Cuba  been  made  a  dependency  of  the  United  States. 

Under  the  Platt  resolutions  of  Congress  the  hold  that  we 
now  have  over  the  policy  and  fortunes  of  the  island  will 
be  continued.  It  is  within  my  knowledge  that  there  has 
been  a  purpose  during  a  period  of  fifty  years  to  secure  the 
annexation  of  Cuba  either  by  purchase  or  conquest. 
When  General  Pierce  was  elected  President,  it  was  under¬ 
stood,  even  before  the  inauguration,  that  Mr.  Soule  of 


18 


Louisiana  was  to  be  our  minister  to  Spain.  He  came  to 
Boston  previous  to  his  departure.  He  informed  me  that 
his  main  purpose  was  the  acquisition  of  Cuba.  This  he 
expected  to  accomplish  by  the  payment  of  thirty  million  t 
dollars. 

I  then  expressed  doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  and  possibil¬ 
ity  of  the  purchase.  The  movement  was  then  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  slavery.  The  movement  is  now  in  the  interest 
of  trade  and  speculation,  and  so  it  has  been  since  1868. 

These  forces  are  now  augmented  immensely.  The  owners 
of  sugar  and  tobacco  lands,  whether  they  reside  in  Cuba 
or  on  this  continent,  will  continue  the  contest  until  their 
work  has  been  accomplished,  unless  the  people  of  the 
United  States  repudiate  these  later  proceedings  and  return 
to  the  performance  of  the  pledge  of  1898.  The  Platt 
resolutions  are  the  beginning  of  the  policy  of  annexation  by 
the  Republican  party.  The  issue  can  be  comprehended. 

On  one  side  are  the  laborers  and  producers  of  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  side  are  the  owners  of  the  sugar 
and  tobacco  lands  of  Cuba,  aided  by  bodies  of  men  who 
wish  to  enlarge  the  field  in  which  political  ambitions  may 
be  gratified,  and  by  bodies  of  men  who  hope  to  add  to  the 
vast  fortunes  already  accumulated.  It  is  not  now  certain 
that  any  considerable  reinforcements  can  be  drawn  from 
the  men  who  should  be  moved  by  moral  and  political  con¬ 
siderations,  and  hence  the  final  effort  for  the  salvation  of 
the  Republic  is  to  be  made  by  the  laboring  and  producing 
classes,  aud  to  them  may  come  the  honor  of  restoring  the 
country  to  a  full  recognition  of  the  cardinal  principles  on 
which  the  government  was  founded,  by  conceding  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  the  Philippine  Islands 
the  full  right  of  self-government. 

/  I  am  not  to  close  this  address  in  Faneuil  Hall  with  an 
/  appeal  to  the  personal  and  class  interests  of  my  fellow- 
citizens,  however  important  those  interests  may  be  to 
bodies  of  men  or  even  to  the  fortunes  of  the  country. 

There  are  higher,  there  are  holier  considerations.  When 
the  laboring  and  producing  classes  shall  strike  for  their 
pecuniary  and  class  interests,  they  should  realize  that  they 
are  struggling  for  a  policy  of  peace  for  America  and  for 
justice  for  all  mankind. 

The  fate  of  Republican  ideas,  of  Republican  institu¬ 
tions,  of  Republican  government,  is  involved  in  the  struggle 
we  are  now  carrying  on.  If  there  have  been  political 
crimes  in  the  history  of  mankind,  the  chiefest  of  them  all 
may  be  found  in  the  records  of  America  since  the  open- 


19 


mg  of  the  year  1898.  In  these  four  years  America  has 
reversed  its  public  policy  of  a  century  ;  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  is  spurned  by  some  and  disregarded  by 
many ;  the  men  who  founded  the  republic  and  the  men  j 
who  saved  the  republic  can  no  more  be  quoted  as  ex¬ 
amples  and  guides  for  the  youth  of  the  country ;  the 
ideals  of  liberty  are  spurned  or  neglected  and  the  institu¬ 
tions  of  liberty  cannot  long  survive  the  loss  of  the  ideals 
of  liberty. 

The  Republican  party  was  born  into  the  principles  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  it  became  the  libera¬ 
tor  of  a  race  and  an  example  to  the  nations. 

In  its  abandonment  of  its  early  principles  it  has  become 
the  servile  imitator  of  the  worst  despotisms  that  have  dis¬ 
graced  the  ages.  Every  step  that  we  take  in  the  Philip¬ 
pines  gives  fresh  evidence  of  the  general  purity  of  the 
islanders  in  their  daily  lives,  of  their  love  of  liberty,  of 
learning,  and  of  their  capacit}7  for  self-government. 

Every  step  that  we  have  taken  in  the  Philippines  illus¬ 
trates  with  painful  fidelity  the  injustice  of  our  domination 
over  the  islands,  the  brutality  of  our  policy  and  doings,  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  claim  that  we  are  making  in  America 
that  we  have  millions  of  friends  among  the  Filipinos  and 
only  thousands  of  enemies,  and,  finally,  at  the  end  of 
three  years  of  war  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  the  peace 
which  we  have  conquered  can  only  be  kept  by  the  pres¬ 
ence,  through  an  unknown  future,  of  an  army  twice  as 
large  as  has  been  required  for  the  peace  of  seventy  million 
people  in  the  Uuited  States  and  the  security  of  a  territory 
which  extends  over  four  and  twenty  degrees  of  latitude 
and  embraces  a  sixth  part  of  the  circumference  of  the 
globe. 

In  the  presence  of  these  facts  of  recent  history  the 
laboring  and  producing  classes  should  realize  that  when 
they  demand  a  policy  of  protection  for  their  own  rights, 
they  demand  for  all  their  countrymen  a  policy  of  peace  in 
the  place  of  a  policy  of  wars  and  conquests,  of  justice  to 
all  men  at  home  and  abroad,  in  place  of  a  policy  of  domi¬ 
nation  and  servitude,  under  the  pretext  of  giving  to  man¬ 
kind  a  better  education,  a  better  religion,  a  better  form 
of  government.  When  the  laboring  and  producing 
classes  demand  justice  for  themselves  they  should  realize 
'  that  they  are  co-operating  with  those  who  are  struggling 
^for  a  policy  of  liberty,  of  equality,  of  self-government  for 
|11  men  in  place  of  the  assumption  that  the  Supreme  Being 
las  conferred  upon  the  United  States  an  authority  to  hold 


20 


2  06 


898836 


freedom  as  a  right  for  itself  and  as  a  privilege  to  be 
grauted  to  others  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
when  in  his  view  or  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  they  may 
be  fitted  to  receive  and  to  enjoy  the  benign  privilege. 

What  is  the  situation  and  what  is  the  prospect?  We; 
are  far  along  in  the  third  year  of  the  war  in  the  Philippines' 
and  our  army  orders  indicate  that  the  condition  is  more 
strenuous  than  ever  before.  For  the  soldier  there  is  no 
peace  and  for  the  civilian  there  is  no  safety  except  in  the 
constant  presence  of  the  soldier.  Our  army  of  forty 
thousand  men  is  inadequate.  We  have  conquered  only 
the  ground  which  our  soldiers  stand  upon,  and  when  we 
contemplate  a  like  occupation  of  territories  equal  in  area 
to  New  England  and  New  York  combined,  and  with  a 
population  that  is  less  by  one-tenth  part  only,  it  is  not 
within  the  range  of  reason  or  the  scope  of  prophecy 
to  estimate  or  to  limit  the  demands  that  are  to  be  made 
upon  the  country  if  the  policy  of  subjugation  is  to  be  pur¬ 
sued  until  through  war  we  shall  have  first  of  all  established 
order,  then  secured  tranquility,  then  the  submission  of  the 
ten  million  Filipinos  who  will  have  no  memory  of  America 
^except  as  an  enemy  and  the  author  of  innumerable  woes. 

Such  is  the  situation,  and  what  is  the  prospect?  Scanty 
wages  for  the  laborers  of  America,  reduced  incomes  for 
the  producing  classes,  and  for  the  youth  enforced  military 
service  in  foreign  lands,  and  burdensome  taxation  for  all 
those  who  may  remain  at  home. 

**  What  is  the  alternative  that  we  offer?  Freedom, 
absolute,  unconditional  freedom  to  Hawaii,  Porto  Rico, 
Cuba,  and  the  Philippines,  thus  aiding  in  the  creation  of 
self-governing  States  that  will  thereby  and  therefor  be 
bound  to  us  by  ties  of  friendship  such  as  war  can  never 
weave.  And  thus  may  America  be  wrested  from  a  polio v 
of  empire  and  despotism,  and  thus  may  the  time  again 
come  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  can  be  read 
with  emphasis  and  universal  acceptance  in  Faneuil  HaM 
and  in  all  assemblies  of  the  American  people. 


